Chapter 382 Taking the Exam Outside the Examination Hall

After arguing for so long, neither side convinced the other, and the problem remained unresolved.

The trouble was caused by the students of the Imperial Academy; the blame shouldn't be placed on these senior officials.

Many adults no longer wanted to get involved in this troublesome matter. They didn't know how much money it would cost to buy the materials for that stargazing mirror. The processing and rental fees alone had filled an entire villa, and the material costs would probably only increase.

Every single adult present today must be counted in the headcount.

Thinking of this, they couldn't help but stare fiercely at the students of the Imperial Academy; they were the real culprits.

Although many of these students are related to them, it doesn't stop them from causing trouble for them later and adding extra homework.

The students at the Imperial Academy were also in a bad mood. They were confused and didn't know how things had developed to this point. It was no longer possible to back down.

The Emperor just said that the competition cannot be canceled, so we must proceed even if it's difficult.

"You've been arguing for a long time, have you come to a conclusion on how this exam should proceed?" the Emperor asked again.

This time, everyone thought about it seriously.

"Your Majesty, why not expand the examination hall? I imagine not many students from the girls' academy will participate in the imperial examinations. Adding just one hundred more examination cells would suffice..."

"No, the cells are cramped, and the weather will be quite cold during the exams. We'll have to stay in those cells for nine days. Girls are naturally weaker than boys, so we won't take the exams in those cells," Daiyu immediately objected.

"We're going there to take an exam, not to die!"

Not to mention others, even Daiyu herself couldn't bear to spend nine days in a cramped space that was only three feet wide and four feet deep, where she ate and slept, and couldn't even wash up.

She was afraid that she might pickle the food too well in nine days.

"Does Princess Jiangzhu have a good method?"

Hearing this, Lin Daiyu turned to look at Yuan Hongqu. Seeing that Mr. Yuan looked encouraging, she felt even more at ease!

"Our female students at the academy are here to compete, not to become officials." As soon as Daiyu said this, the students of the Imperial Academy who had just been shouting that women were seizing resources all fell silent.

Why didn't Princess Lin say this sooner? Why did she have to say it now, causing them to make such a fuss?

They had no interest in officialdom and didn't have any serious conflicts with the students of the Imperial Academy, so let them do whatever they wanted!

“We don’t need to go to the examination hall. Our academy’s master classroom can accommodate two hundred students at the same time. The school has five such classrooms, which can be temporarily converted into examination rooms. During the exam, each classroom will only have twenty desks and chairs. The greater distance between them will prevent cheating.”

"In addition, all the proctors will be appointed by your Imperial College."

Upon hearing this, Li Jijiu and Siye exchanged a glance, both thinking that they could send a strict teacher, the kind who showed no mercy.

"Even so, do the students all live in the classrooms?" someone asked.

"They don't live in the classroom. There are only a few subjects in the exam, and each subject is counted as two hours, one in the morning and one in the afternoon. The time is a bit more flexible, and all the exams are finished in three days."

Daiyu had already figured it out in her mind. Once, she saw some of Mr. Yuan's books in her space, which had the words "college entrance examination" on them. She didn't understand what it meant, so she asked Mr. Yuan for an explanation.

Yuan Hongqu explained the college entrance examination system of later generations to Daiyu, and only then did she understand.

She also thought of what her father had once told her: when she took the imperial examination, she stayed in the examination cell for nine days and eight nights, and in the end, many people had to be carried out.

Fortunately, he had brought ginseng powder with him, which helped him survive those nine days.

Even so, he fell seriously ill after leaving the examination hall.

Such physically demanding exams are unforgettable for anyone.

However, Mr. Yuan said that when she took the college entrance examination, although it was in June and the heat was unbearable, the cooling measures were very good. Almost the whole country made way for the college entrance examination. Even the elderly and children who usually played and cooled off downstairs in the evening knew not to make loud noise so as not to disturb the candidates' rest.

Lin Daiyu felt genuine envy.

So she secretly wondered if it would work if she applied the same approach as the college entrance exam here.

Little did she know that such an opportunity would actually come, allowing her to recreate the scene from her own college entrance examination to design the examination room.

"In that case, wouldn't the exam papers and questions be at risk of being leaked?" An adult who had served as an examiner for the imperial examinations felt that although this measure was good, the exam questions would lose their confidentiality, making it easier for cheaters to cheat.

“My lord,” Daiyu said without hesitation, “once your candidates enter the examination hall, they won’t be able to leave for nine days and eight nights. Once the gates of the examination hall are closed, no one can open them until the appointed time. If the exam questions are leaked after the exam has started, who can pass the answers in?”

"That's true. And if the secrecy is well maintained, the students wouldn't need to stay in the examination hall for so long. They could be like the girls' academy, where after a day's exam, or even after one subject's exam, the students could rest and the next exam papers would be distributed. Instead of distributing all the exam papers at once like this."

Some of the quick-witted adults below, recalling their own miserable experience when they took the imperial examinations, couldn't help but greatly admire the examination rules of the girls' academy.

"In this way, students will get proper rest and won't fall ill in large numbers after the exams."

“Nine days and eight nights is to give students ample time to think and fill in the gaps in their knowledge... If the time is shortened, what good articles can be produced in just two hours!” Many officials scoffed at this new method.

Daiyu knew that people would say that, but she was only making reforms at the girls' academy and hadn't touched the examination hall.

"If it takes so long to find and fill in the gaps in an article, it's clear that one's general knowledge is only average. If one had a solid grasp of knowledge, wouldn't writing articles be a piece of cake? Why would one need to toss and turn and spend so much time on it?"

As soon as Daiyu finished speaking, Yuan Hongqu glanced at her helplessly, thinking to herself: Not everyone has a photographic memory like you.

However, Daiyu's lips curled up slightly, and a thought suddenly occurred to her:

If every imperial examination had students from girls' colleges taking the exams outside the examination hall, then after ten or twenty years, when people saw the advantages and convenience of the girls' college exams, wouldn't they be able to gradually change the examination rules of the examination hall, so that fewer students would get sick each year?

Actually, it's good to have a serious illness, at least you'll survive. There are many students who lose their lives after finishing their exams. These people have studied hard for decades, and it's such a pity to lose their lives like that.

Daiyu felt that she had to win this battle first, save the academy, and then plan for the future!